SPARTAN Project

The SPARTAN Project.

The SPARTAN Project is a project that features in Halo.

History

The SPARTAN Project was created in 2321 following the activation of the ORION Project by the Office of Naval Intelligence where they intended to create stronger and better soldiers for the United Nations Space Command through bio-engineering initiatives. In time, the attacks from Insurrectionist forces started to become more effective leading to the Dr. Catherine Halsey developing the SPARTAN-II program. She sought to create a strike team which could keep the UNSC from falling into civil strife. Halsey and her associates scoured human colonies for suitable test subjects. The children who were chosen to be Spartans were "conscripted," a process that involved locating children of a select gene-pool, kidnapping the child in question and replacing him or her with a flash clone. These clones were unstable (due to the process used to clone them not being perfected) and quickly died of what appeared to be natural causes. Meanwhile, the young children were officially conscripted by the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence and taken to the planet Reach. There, the Spartans learned teamwork, academics, and combat tactics. At the age of fourteen the SPARTAN-II candidates underwent a series of dramatic augmentations. These included "carbide ceramic ossification" which fused titanium to their skeleton, making their bones almost unbreakable, in addition to enhancements that boosted the Spartans' vision, reaction time, and strength. These modifications were risky, and thirty of the seventy-five candidates died from the process; a dozen more were disabled to the point they could not participate in combat. The remaining children became the elite force in the UNSC, putting down insurgent activity and maintaining calm throughout the colonies.

While the SPARTAN-IIs are intended to remain secret as the UNSC's surgical strike team, events become complicated with the destruction of the colony Harvest by a theocratic coalition of alien races known as the Covenant. Declaring humanity's destruction "the will of the gods", the Covenant utilize their technological advantage over humanity to great effect; colonies are overwhelmed and "glassed", bombarded with plasma until everything is melted and utterly destroyed. In an effort to raise morale, the existence of the SPARTAN Program is disclosed to the general public.

On December 27, 2531, the SPARTAN-III program began on the classified world of Onyx under the direction of Colonel James Ackerson. He was a high-ranking officer in ONI and a personal enemy of Dr. Halsey that covertly recruited Kurt Ambrose who was an experienced SPARTAN-II and the original S-II drill instructor Chief Mendez. For the next 20 years, he established the SPARTAN-III program with Ambrose and Mendez responsible for training hundreds of Spartans in secret. The program came to an end on October 31, 2552, when the planet of Onyx awakened due to the priming of Installation 04 which attracted the Covenant and a large-scale conflict which followed.

Spartan Noble Team came to play a pivotal role in the Fall of Reach where they helped evacuate the A.I. Cortana to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn which escaped the planet.

In September 20, 2552, Admiral Margaret Parangosky who headed ONI came to develop a new class of super-solders with this program looking to recruit exceptional and fully capable adult soldiers that would be genetically enhanced with their body going through a number of augmentations. By January 7, 2553, the SPARTAN-IV Project would have a first class consisting of 145 candidates that began training in War Games facilities at undisclosed sites.

Later on, the AI Cortana turned against her creators and used her command over the Forerunners technology to enforce a brutal peace in the cosmos. Many AIs came to side with her and became a faction called the Created. Among them included Leonidas the AI for Laconia Station who detonated the orbital's reactor thus killing everyone on it.

Overview

Biology

In appearance, SPARTANs were genetically engineered humans created by advanced bio-augmentation and cybernetic enhancements made to select subjects.

Possessing superior strength, quick reflexes, battle training and powerful armor, the Spartans inspire equal parts awe and terror in friend and foelike. With the humans facing extermination by the alien Covenant, the Spartans are seemingly humanity's last hope.

Organization

These heavily armored super-soldiers were held as the most elite infantry force used by the UNSC.

Unlike other branches, which maintain escalating rank systems, all Spartans are considered equal, their standing and specialization determined by personal skill alone. All detachments operate under a Spartan commander while individual fireteams operate under a team leader. The Spartan branch whilst technically autonomous worked in close collaboration with the Navy and other branches when needed, most often in administrative capacities.

Over time, the organisation came to develop the Spartan Creed that came to be spoken during graduation in later aspects of the program. This asked that a Spartan be committed to excellence in fighting, hold integrity in character and respect the heritage of those that held the sword and shield in the past.

Under the WINTER Contingency, it was deemed illegal with interfering with Spartan deployment when that initiative was active. Any such violation by civilians could see the perpetrator placed in prison.

Following the Covenant War, the UNSC came to establish a special branch known as Spartan Operations that directed all SPARTAN missions.

Equipment

Through Project: MJOLNIR, Spartans came to be equipped with their distinctive MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. The brainchild of Dr. Catherine Halsey, revolutionary powered armor system envisioned as the counterpart to the SPARTAN program. When perfected, Mjolnir armor would enhance the combat abilities of the Spartan super-soldiers far beyond what their physiological augmentations were already capable of. Throughout its decades of development and refinement, Mjolnir became more than just a suit of armor, it became a symbol of humanity’s ingenuity, adaptability, and fortitude in the face of impossible odds. Three generations of combat exoskeletons preceded Dr. Halsey’s work. The Mark I battle suit was the UNSC’s first attempt at creating powered exoskeletons, though it remained a tethered testing platform during the entire span of its development. Mark II armor was similar to the Mark I, with incremental improvements in mobility and ease of use. Mk. III was the first battle suit to successfully operate without a tether, though the suit had to stay within range of a bulky, immobile broadcast power generator.

Spartans utilize numerous weapons and equipment, but their most distinctive feature is their armor. SPARTAN-IIs were originally equipped with fairly standard armor, but were later equipped with the Mark IV MJOLNIR armor system. Eventually, they came to be equipped with the MJOLNIR Mark V armor that had a personal shield greater than Covenant's own technology. In addition, the Mark V allowed for the Spartans to house an artificial intelligence that could occupy the armor. The visor of a Spartan provides a real time HUD (head-up display, allowing the Spartans to keep track of their ammo and shield integrity.) In Halo 2, the Master Chief's armor was replaced with the Mark VI. This version contains a supply of "biofoam", which automatically seals wounds the soldier receives. Spartans are the only humans who have the lightning fast reaction times and biological augmentations required to wear MJOLNIR armor. Additionally, the suit moves at the speed of the wearer's thoughts; in testing early versions of the armor, ordinary soldiers unintentionally shattered their bones with the slightest movement. However, the Spartans, having undergone a series of physical and mental augmentations, are able to utilize this feature to its fullest without consequence. SPARTAN-IIIs wear SPI armor, which offers less protection than the MJOLNIR system but allows the wearer to blend in with his or her surroundings.

Generation 2 Mjolnir production uses a spiral-development model, allowing the UNSC and its various corporate partners to iterate and evolve armor systems much faster and more efficiently than before. Primarily developed for the newer SPARTAN-IV program, GEN2 Mjolnir focus on integrating the vast majority of the armor’s vital hardware systems within the inner techsuit itself, allowing for more streamlined production and easier implementation of specialized subsystems and armatures.

A civilian engineer was responsible for Project Magnes that create the grappleshot that was later introduced into the MJOLNIR armor.

Project GUNGNIR was a weapon program designed to provide supplementary matériel for the SPARTAN Program.

The UNSC later headed Project SLEIPNIR that was a cutting-edge program looking to develop unique combat dropships tailored specifically for use by Spartans.

At some point, Spartan Operations established Laconia Station that was a top-secret space station that served as a training ground for SPARTANs.

Versions

SPARTAN II

The SPARTAN-II project is the successor to the SPARTAN-I project, known as Project ORION. The Program is headed by Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, who sought to create a strike team which could keep the UNSC from falling into civil strife. Halsey and her associates scoured human colonies for suitable test subjects. The children who were chosen to be Spartans were "conscripted," a process that involved locating children of a select gene-pool, kidnapping the child in question and replacing him or her with a flash clone. These clones were unstable (due to the process used to clone them not being perfected) and quickly died of what appeared to be natural causes. Meanwhile, the young children were officially conscripted by the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence and taken to the planet Reach. There, the Spartans learned teamwork, academics, and combat tactics.

At the age of fourteen the SPARTAN-II candidates underwent a series of dramatic augmentations. These included "carbide ceramic ossification" which fused titanium to their skeleton, making their bones almost unbreakable, in addition to enhancements that boosted the Spartans' vision, reaction time, and strength. These modifications were risky, and thirty of the seventy-five candidates died from the process; a dozen more were disabled to the point they could not participate in combat. The remaining children became the elite force in the UNSC, putting down insurgent activity and maintaining calm throughout the colonies.

While the SPARTAN-IIs are intended to remain secret as the UNSC's surgical strike team, events become complicated with the destruction of the colony Harvest by a theocratic coalition of alien races known as the Covenant. Declaring humanity's destruction "the will of the gods", the Covenant utilize their technological advantage over humanity to great effect; colonies are overwhelmed and "glassed", bombarded with plasma until everything is melted and utterly destroyed. In an effort to raise morale, the existence of the SPARTAN Program is disclosed to the general public. The Spartans become heroes and veritable legends; in order to maintain public confidence that the war is going well, Spartans are never listed as killed, only as MIA or Wounded in Action (WIA).

By the time the events of the Halo Games Trilogy takes place, most of these Spartans were listed as Missing in Action; only a handful remained on active duty, and John-117 (the Master Chief) is the only Spartan seen in the Trilogy. Fellow soldiers Linda-058, Kelly-087, and Fred-104 are trapped inside a slipspace shield world during Ghosts of Onyx.[4] Kurt-051 is killed after staying behind to stop the Covenant from following his comrades into the Sphere.[5]

Li-008 is killed covering those repairing the Ascendant Justice in slipspace during Halo: First Strike, as is Anton-044.[6] Later on, Grace-093 is killed by Brutes on board the Covenant ship Unyielding Hierophant in an effort to destroy the station.[7] William-043 is killed in Onyx by a Hunter. Other Spartans mentioned (and now MIA) include Joshua-029, Vinh-030, Sam-034, Isaac-039, Malcolm-059, and the members of "Gray Team",[8][9] Jai-006, Adriana-111, and Mike, who at the time of Halo: The Fall of Reach were in fields of battle too distant to be recalled and have not contacted the UNSC since.[10][9] The Spartan Nicole-458 appears in the game Dead or Alive 4 as a collaboration between the games developers and Bungie. John-117, seemingly the last Spartan during Halo 3, is also considered dead by the end of the game (although he actually is trapped in space along with Cortana.)

SPARTAN III

Despite their enormous successes, the SPARTAN-IIs were seen as too expensive to maintain. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Colonel James Ackerson convinces the UNSC to establish a new SPARTAN program, this one focusing on cheaper, more "disposable" supersoldiers. These new soldiers are instructed by the SPARTAN-IIs' trainer, Franklin Mendez, as well as the former Spartan Kurt-051. Despite the SPARTAN-IIIs meeting with field success, these missions are marked with grievous casualties; the first two companies of SPARTAN-IIIs received almost 100% casualties. Unlike the SPARTAN-IIs, the SPARTAN-IIIs are composed of volunteering vengeful orphans from fallen colonies like Harvest, Jericho VII, and Biko. While additional SPARTAN-IIIs are to be trained, the program's base of operations on the planet Onyx falls under attack by activated Forerunner Sentinels after Delta Halo and all other remaining installations are put in standby status during the end of Halo 2; the entire planet transformed and was revealed to be constructed out of sentinels.

SPARTAN IV

The fourth iteration of the program saw the creation of SPARTAN-IVs by the end of the Covenant War.

Members

A SPARTAN Company.

• John-117 :
• Linda-058 :
• Kelly-087 :
• Fred-104 :
• Alice-130 :
• Jorge-052 :
• Carter-A259 :
• Kat-B320 :
• Emile-A239 :
• Jun-A266 :
• Sarah Palmer :
• Jameson Locke :
• Holly Tanaka :
• Olympia Vale :
• Edward Buck :
• Laurette Agryna : a black female who came to be the Spartan Academy Commander on Zeta Halo.

Notes

• The SPARTAN Project was created by Bungie Studios and featured in the setting of the Halo universe.
• In Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 multiplayer games, players can modify their Spartan's armor color and emblems. Halo 3 also introduced new variants of the MJOLNIR armor which are used by Spartans in various combat situations. Players can mix and match portions of different armor sets to create a custom Spartan. Armor permutations are unlocked by completing achievements in Halo 3 campaign or multiplayer modes. The "Recon" permutation is not unlockable, being the official Bungie armor, and is bestowed by Bungie upon players on a case-by-case basis, but once Halo 3: ODST is released, players will be able to earn the Recon armor by completing the Vidmaster Challenge achievements featured in September's Halo 3 title update in addition to three new Vidmaster challenges available only through the Halo 3: ODST disc.
• In The Art of Halo (2004), it was noted that the design of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, the first Spartan seen in the Halo games was done by an internal group working for Bungie that consisted of Robert McLees and Marcus Lehto, with the development of conceptual art done by Shi Kai Wang.

In other media

Video games

• In Dead or Alive 4, SPARTAN-458 appeared as an unlockable character in the setting of the fighting video game where she was voiced by actress Lyssa Browne. 'Nicole' was born in 2531 in the city of New Legaspi on Mars where at six years old she was abducted by agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence and conscripted into the SPARTAN-II Program. SPARTAN-458's unit was preparing for a classified mission on Nassau Station when the stealth ship Apocalypso tumbled into real-space after being being carried along in the wake of a freak slipstream space anomaly. The anomaly intersected Nassau Station; creating a semi-stable "bubble" in the space/time continuum on its way back to the 21st century.

Appearances

• Halo: Combat Evolved:
• Halo 2:
• Halo 3:
• Halo: Reach:
• Halo Wars:
• Halo 4:
• Halo: Guardians:
• Halo Wars 2:
• Halo Infinite:

External Link

• Halopedia Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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